Letter to Former Patients

Dear Patient Parent,

It is with great emotion that I am contacting you about some significant changes in my life and changes to Bulloch Pediatrics Group. I have been a pediatrician for 14 years, helping children and families regain health and increase education towards healthy living. While this has been rewarding, I have always felt a deeper calling to serve a more highly specialized group of patients. I’m referring to those patients whose brains function differently, in a more vastly complicated way. These complex functionalities often impede the patient’s opportunity to lead a productive and happy life. Earlier this year, I made the difficult decision to devote all of my clinical time to caring for these patients and have been in transition to do so.

While I value my overall clinical skills, I find my strongest skill to be my ability to connect with children, empathize with them, and understand how they see the world and how they think. I have also found this to be the case with the unique group of children who interact with the world in a different way. It is with these patients that my skills seem especially useful. My knowledge and skills in treating developmental pediatric patients has grown tremendously in recent years. While solving problems “from the inside out” is a useful tool in general pediatrics, it is an essential tool for dealing with those who simply cannot communicate effectively due to complexities of brain functioning.

A long and honest self-assessment revealed the impact I can have on the lives of patients whose brains work differently. For all the reasons stated above, I have made the difficult decision to leave the thriving Bulloch Pediatrics Group and open a new practice that focuses exclusively in behavioral and developmental pediatrics. I will be seeing a wide variety of behavioral and developmental problems. This includes ADHD, anxiety, stress, autism, developmental delays, communication challenges and other diagnoses that keep children from meeting their potential. Helping patients and families reach their potential, both academically and socially, is my goal. If you need help understanding why your child acts or reacts the way they do, I can help with that as well. While this means I will no longer provide primary pediatric care (well checks, sick visits, hospital care, etc.) I am still available to consult with parents and caregivers to help explain their child’s perspective on death, divorce, bullying, tantrums, sleep problems and even newborn colic.

After deep reflection it became clear that this was the best long-term decision both for me and our community. I am excited about the opportunity to specialize even further and serve patients in this capacity. I remain highly confident in and recommend Bulloch Pediatrics Group and its excellent staff of pediatricians, nurse practioners, nurses, and staff for your child’s medical needs.

I will miss you!!!! Your family has been an important part of my life. To keep up with my former patients, I have created a Facebook profile for Michelle Zeanah. If you have a Facebook account, please send me a message so I can continue to enjoy birthdays, awards, milestones, etc. My new practice is located at 406 Savannah Ave near Northside Drive in Statesboro. I will be sure to post information about my open house if you would like to visit me in my new office.